How to Build a Bike Train

It’s hard to describe how endearing it
is to look over my shoulder and see a line of cycling children stretching a
block behind me. I feel like a mama duck, leading a line of two-wheeled
ducklings.

It’s the inaugural ride of the
Thornton Creek Elementary School Bike Train, the first bike train in all of
Seattle.

In 1969, according to the
National Center for Safe Routes to School, 48 percent of kids aged 5 to 14
regularly walked or biked to school. In 2009, it was just 13 percent. A major
reason for the change is that parents don’t feel safe letting their kids bike
on their own. Bike trains—in which an adult chaperone rides a predetermined
route, picking up children along the way—are a way to make it easier, and
safer, for kids to bike to school.

We round the corner to collect
two more kids waiting patiently with their bikes at the ready. The train slows
enough for the kids to hop on board, and then picks up speed again. By the time
we reach school, our train is comprised of 13 laughing children, all proud to
have made their morning commute on their own. With high fives and whoops, we
are greeted by the 20 riders who took the north-bound route. The school’s
three bike racks are already overflowing, and the nearby posts are
quickly filling up with bikes.

The Thornton Creek trains are
just a small piece of the burgeoning Seattle bike-to-school network. Bike
trains, which were part of my senior capstone project at the University of
Washington, introduced me to some of the most inspiring people I know: families
who have never owned a car, ten-year-olds who have cycled from Seattle to
Portland, students who ride to school daily, rain or shine.

Photo by Maya Jacobs

Bike-to-school programs are
taking off all over the city. On Bike-to-School Day, for instance, 120 people
participated in Bryant Elementary’s group ride. Biking to school may be simple,
but its positive impact is enormous. Bike-to-school programs address large
global issues from climate change to childhood obesity. With each group ride,
children are empowered to take charge of their own transportation—they learn to
be more confident cyclists, and that they don’t have to depend on cars to get
around. They (and their parents) learn which of their classmates live nearby,
making it easier to build networks for friendship and support.

Perhaps the most inspiring
aspects of these programs are the communities they form, the confidence they
instill in our youth, and the promise of a healthy, playful, and
environmentally conscious generation.

Some DIY tips for starting a bike
train:

Involve
your community: Find a group of interested parents through school and
neighborhood message boards, listservs, or newsletters.

Assess
your location: Is it hilly? Flat? Busy? Residential? Map safe and dangerous
streets, as well as general topography.

Create
routes: Using your school directory and your knowledge of the area, design
safe, accessible routes that allow as many students as possible to join in.
Routes two miles or less are most accessible for young children.

Get
feedback: Display preliminary routes for other parents, finesse routes for
safety, accessibility, and efficiency. Do a trial ride.

Determine
bike train dates: Chose one or more days a week for the bike trains to run.
Implementing these trains during more pleasant weather is a good way to ensure
ridership!

Get
the word out: Host a meeting, post your routes online, flier your school and
neighborhood.

Interested?

An eco-friendly bicycle bus harnesses the pedal power of kids.

Get a bike, fix a bike, give a bike—how a local collective spreads the love of cycling.

Just because someone doesn’t bike, doesn’t mean they can’t benefit from cities and towns making biking a priority.

Maya Jacobs wrote this article for YES! Magazine, a national, nonprofit media organization that fuses powerful ideas with practical actions.